Latest / The Comeback Career Podcast with Fexingo: Returning After a Gap, Stay-at-Home Re-Entry / Returning as a Product Manager After a Career Gap
Transcript
- Lucas: Today I want to tell you about Maya. She was a business analyst at a mid-size tech company when she and her husband decided she'd stay home to raise their twins. Five years later, she walked into an office as a Product Manager at WorkflowGrid, a B2B SaaS company you've probably never heard of, but they do workflow automation for small manufacturers. Luna: Five years is a long gap. What was going through her head when she first started thinking about going back? Lucas: She told me the fear was real. She worried her skills were obsolete, that hiring managers would see the gap and discard her resume. But she also had a fire to get back into something intellectually challenging. So she started small. Luna: What did she do? Lucas: During the last year of her gap, she took on a part-time freelance project management gig for a friend's small e-commerce store. It was maybe ten hours a week, but it let her update her resume with recent work, and it reminded her she still knew how to coordinate cross-functional teams. That became her anchor. Luna: So she rebuilt confidence before even applying. Lucas: Exactly. Then she signed up for a product management certification — a three-month online course from Product School. She chose product management because it drew on her BA skills — requirements gathering, stakeholder management — but opened a higher growth path. The course cost about $1,500, and she funded it through the freelance work. Luna: Did she network? That's usually the part people skip. Lucas: She did. And here's the smart move: she discovered Path Forward, a nonprofit that connects returning professionals with companies. WorkflowGrid was a partner. Path Forward essentially pre-screened her resume and coached her on how to frame the gap. She applied through their portal, got an interview, and that's how she landed the role. Luna: What kind of numbers are we talking? How many applications? Lucas: She applied to about 40 positions total. Not all through Path Forward — she also did cold applications on LinkedIn. She got three interviews, and one offer. That offer was from WorkflowGrid. The initial salary was 15% lower than her previous role, but she negotiated a six-month ramp-up with a guaranteed review. Luna: So she took a pay cut. Was that hard to swallow? Lucas: She was strategic about it. She knew the ramp-up gave her time to prove herself. And at that six-month review, she had killed it — she'd led a product launch that reduced a client's onboarding time by 30%. They bumped her salary above her pre-gap level and gave her a senior title. Luna: That's a great story. What does she say was the single most important thing? Lucas: Networking, but not the way most people think. She didn't go to events and hand out business cards. She reached out to seven former colleagues, told them she was planning a return, and asked for twenty-minute Zoom chats. Three of those conversations led to referrals. One of those referrals became the Path Forward lead. Luna: So it's about quality over quantity. Lucas: Right. And being transparent about the gap. She didn't hide it — she framed it as a deliberate choice that gave her project management experience in a different domain. That honesty actually impressed hiring managers. Luna: What about imposter syndrome? I imagine walking into a product role after five years feels like a huge leap. Lucas: She felt it constantly that first month. But she had a technique: every Friday she wrote down three things she accomplished that week — even small ones like 'unblocked a developer on a ticket' or 'revised a user story'. That list became her evidence that she belonged. Luna: If today was actually useful to you, the way these stay ad-free is listener support — buy me a coffee dot com slash fexingo. Just a small way to keep these stories coming. Lucas: Yeah, and as Maya found, small consistent steps lead to big changes. Speaking of which, she has one more piece of advice. Luna: What's that? Lucas: Start networking earlier than you think you need to. She wished she had begun reaching out six months before she was ready to apply. Building relationships takes time, and when you finally ask for a referral, you want it to feel natural. Luna: Any regrets about the gap itself? Lucas: None. She says the time with her kids was irreplaceable. But she also says she wishes she hadn't let the fear of judgment stop her from starting the comeback process sooner. Once she began, the momentum carried her. Luna: That's a good way to put it. Lucas: Maya's story is a reminder that a career gap doesn't have to be a dead end. With a little planning, the right program, and a network of support, you can step back into a role that's even more fulfilling than the one you left.